Door latch



Sept. 6 1932 w. R. SCHLAGE 1,876,081

DOOR LATCH Filed March 5, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l L. Lflmlln l L A' 36/L38 f 3 34 33 BZ Sept. 6, 1932.

W. R. SCHLAGE DOOR LATCH Filed March 5, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VENTOR.

A TTORNE YS.

Patented Sept. 6, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT ori-ICE WALTER n. scnLAGE,or SAN raANcIsco, cALIronNIA, Assrenon ro scnLAcE Loox coMrANY, or` sANrnmcrsco, CALIFORNIA, A conronATIoN-.or CALIFORNIA Application filedvMarch 5,

This invention relates to a door latch, andespecially to a dead lockingmechanism therefor.

The object of the present invention is to generally improve and simplifythe construction and operation of dead locking attachments for doorlatches; to provide a dead locking mechanism which is particularlyadapted for, door latches in which two separable units are employed, onethe latch actu- 'ating unit containing the spindle and retractormechanism, and the other the latch unit containing the latch and itsassociated mechanism; to provide a dead locking mechanism which isdesigned for installation in the latch unit; and further to provide adead locking mechanism which is adapted to dog or lock the latch in itsextended position when an auxiliary bolt is depressed, and which is alsoadapted to be released. and retracted by means of the retractor and themechanism actuated thereby.

The invention is shown by way of illustration in the accompanyingdrawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a. central vertical longitudinal section taken through thelatch unit and the latch actuating unit,

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the latch unit taken online 2, 2 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 3 is a plan section taken on line 3, 3

Fig. 1,

ig. 4 is a section similar to Fig. l but showing the'auxiliary boltdepressed,

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the latch, the dead bolt and the latchretracting link,

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the latch dogging members,

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the retractor link,

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the latch bar,

Fig. 9 is a. perspective view of the latch,

Fig. 10 is anotherperspective view of one of the latch dogging members,

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the auX- iliary bolt,

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of the latch 'unit housing,

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of a reinforc- 1929. serial m. 344,260.

with the housing A, support a spindle 4, a retractor guide 5, and aretractor 6. Thev in'- ner end of the spindle is shaped as shown at 7(see Fig. l) and it engages a pairof plates indicated at 8. Hence,when'v rotary motion is transmitted to the spindle 4 by meanspof theknob indicated at 4a, the member 7 on the inner end of the spindle willrotate and thereby depress one oranother of the plates 8 and as theseplates are carried by and secured to the retractor 6, the retractorwillmove inwardly in the direction of Aarrow a. Conversely, when the handleor knob 4 is released', a spring 9 will force the retractor outwardly.

-A second spindle is shown at 10 (see Fig. 3).

This spindle terminates in an inner end such as indicated at 7a, thisend being similar to the spindle end indicated at 7 The spindle l0 is inthis instance actuated by key mechanism, generally indicated at 11, andwhen a f shown in Fig. 1. In other words, the retractor may be retractedeither by the spindle 4 and its actuating knob 4a, or by means of thespindle 10 and its actuating mechanism 11.

' Retractive movement of the retractor is transmitted to withdraw thelatch indicated at 12, and when this is retracted the door may beopened. 'Y f The knob'4ais mounted on the'inside of the door, and thekey actuated mechanism on the outside,vhencethe: door is opened from theinside when the knob4a` is rotated, `as such rotation is transmitted toretract, the latch 12 and it is similarly retracted from-the outside bymeans of the key actuated mechanism 11.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a dead lockingmechanism which will render the door jimmy-proof. That is, burglarsinvariably employ a jimmy which is mserted between the door and theframe, and by means of the jimmy are able to force the latch 12inwardly, thus opening the door without the use-of. a ke Of course ifthe burglar is equipped wit a key that will fit the lock, such operationis not necessary, but it is not often t of the proper key, and in thatinstance he always resorts to a jimmy operation. J imm ing of the dooris, in this instance, prevente by the dead locking mechanism forming thesubject matter of this application. This mechanism is constructed andoperated as follows:

The latch 12 is reciprocally mounted within the housing B. The latch isattached to a latch bar or plate generally indicated at 13 (see Fig. 8)that is, the inner end of the latch 12 is slotted as shown at 13a andthe forward end of the latch bar 13 is inserted in the slot 13a. A rivetor screw is then passed through the holes indicated at 14 and 14a, and

the latch and plate 13 are thus secured as an integral unit. The latchbar 12 is provided with two shoulders, generally indicated at 15. Theseshoulders engage a face plate 16, which is secured to the edge of thedoor by the use of screws 17 in the usual manner. Engagement of theshoulders 15 with the plate 16 serves the function of limiting theoutward movement of the latch 12.

By referring to Fig. Sit will be noted that the latch bar, is providedwith a second set of shoulders, indicated at 18. These shoulders areengaged by the dead locking mechanism to prevent retraction of the latch12, as will hereinafter be described.

Slidably mounted on the inner reduced end 19 of the latch bar is aretractor link generally indicated at 2O (see Figs.` 5 and 7). The outerend of the link terminates in a head 21, which is provided with inclinedshoulders 22. The main 'portion of the link is slotted, as indicated at23 and the inner end is provided with a head member 24, which isslidable on the reduced end 19 of the latch bar. The head 24 isotherwise provided with notches 25 in its upper and lower surfaces, andthese notches are engaged by the fingers 6a of the retractor. A pin 26(see Figs. 3 and 8) secured on the latch bar extends through the slot 23of the retractor link and a sliding connection is thus formed betweenthe latch bar and the link. This sliding connection is important as itpermits several functions, the first and main function of the retractorlink being that of forming a connection between the retractor 6 and thelatch bar, whereby the latch bar andlatch 12 are retracted when theretractor 6 is retracted. That is, inward movement of the retractor 6 inthe direction of arrow a see Fig. 1, causes the finger 6a of theretractor at a burglar is in possessionA which engages the notches 25 ofthe retractor link, to pull the retractor link inwardly. The pin 18 ofthe retractor bar is at that time engaged by the outer end of the slot23 formed 1n the link, and an inward pull isv thus exerted which causesretraction of the bar 13 and the latch 12, in this manner permittingopening of the door either by means of the knob 4a or the key actuatingmechanism 1-1.

The other functions produced by the sliding connection which is formedbetween the retractor link and the latch bar 13 will hereinafter bedescribed.

Projecting through theJ face plate 16, and parta ly guided by said plateand b the housing B is an auxiliary bolt 3 0. T is is` best shown inFig. 11. It consists of a halfround elongated bar, on the inner end ofwhich is formed a flat extended plate 31and a semi circular plate 32 theplate 32 merely acting as a gulde member as it engages the inner surfaceof the housing B. The flat plate 31 engages one half of the latch bar 13and is guided thereby. The plate 31 is provided with two inclinedshoulders, such as indicated at 33, the function of which willhereinafter be described.

Mounted in the inner end of the latch housing B is a reinforcing plate34. This is best illustrated in Figs. 3 and 13. Two rods, shown at 35and 36 extend through perforations formed in the reinforcing p ate 34and the inner end of the latch housing and are there riveted andsecured. The outer end of the rod 35 extends into a guideway 37 formedin, the latch 12, while the outer end of the rod 36 extends into aguideway 38 formed in the auxiliary bolt 30. Springs 39 surround therods and are interposed between the latch and the auxiliary boltrespectively, and these springs function to normally maintain the latchand the auxiliary bolt in the extended position shown in Fig. 3. These`springs also have another function which will hereinafter be described.

Before proceeding further it mightbe advisable to state that thereinforcing plate 34 does not only function as a reinforcing plate, butit also functions as one of a pair of in# terlocking members formedbetween the housin s A and B. That is, the latch housing B see Fig. 12)is punched first to form f openings 40, and secondly to form guide and46, the arms being disposed at right an.

gles to each other to form a bell crank shape. The arms 46 have recesses47 formed therein, to straddle the rods 35 and 36, thus permitting thesprings 39 to rest on the inner ends of the arms 46 as clearly shown inFig. 2. This is the second function of the springs 39,

' their first function being that of normally projecting the latch 12 ofthe auxiliary bolt 13, and the second function being that of engagingthe inner ends of the arms 46 of the locking dogs.

The locking arms 45 of the .dogs are, however, normally held out oflocking or clogging osition by means of the head or plate 31 ormed onthe inner end of the auxiliary bolt 30, as clearly shown in Fig. 2.However, when the auxiliary bolt is moved inwardly, as shown in Fig. 4,the locking ends or arms 45 of the dogs will ride down the inclinedshoulders 33 of the plate 31, and they will then assume the positionshown in Fig. 4 at a point rearwardly of the shoulders 18 formed on thelatch bar. When the dogs assume this position latch 12 is dogged orlocked against inward movement and the application of a jimmy or liketool will be of no avail, as the latch 12 is deadlocked.

The latch may, however, be retracted at any time, whether deadlocked ornot, either by means of the knob 4a or by the key actuated mechanism 11.l

The retractor link 20 has another function besides that of retractingthe latch 12, to wit, i

that of first releasing the dogs and secondly retracting the latch.

By referring to Fig. 4 and Fig. 7 it will be noted that the inner end ofthe retractor link is provided with inclined shoulders 22 which aredisposed on an angle opposite to the shoulders 33 forming a part of theauxiliary bolt. Hence, if the retractor is retracted either by means ofthe knob or the key actuated mechanism, link 2O will move inwardly withthe retractor 6. The inclined shoulders 22 will then engage the outerends of the dogs or arms 45 and raise them sufficiently to clear theshoulders 18, hence permitting retraction of the latch 12 even thoughthe auxiliary boltassumes its deadlocking position. In other words, slot23 in the retractor link 20 is sufficiently long to permit sutlicientinward movement of the link 20 to raise the locking dogs to clear theshoulders 18 before pin 26 is engaged, and the latch bar 13 and latch l2are retracted.

The retractor link performs still another function, to wit that ofpermitting free inward movement of the latch 12 if the door is slammed.That is, a door is Often swung closed and when that is the case, theinclined face of the latch engages the striker plate of the door frameand is thus forced inwardly. lVhen this happens the latch bar 13 movesinwardly with the latch, pin 26 slides freely in the slot 23 and thereduced inner end 19 of the latch bar slides freely through the head 24of the retractor link. The retractor link thus permits three differentoperations or fnnctions-rst that of retracting the latch 12, secondly itpermits free inward movement of the latch and the latch bar, and thirdthe retractor link functions as a means for releasing the dogs 45 whenthe latch is to be retracted.

The auxiliary bolt and the dogs actuated thereby, as constructed in thepresent insta-nce, are reliable and dependable in operation, and may bereadily installed in a small elongated latch housingl such as hereillustrated.

While the auxiliary bolt and dogging mechanism actuated thereby arehereshown as installed in a specific form of two unit latch, it isobvious that it may be installed in practically any form of latchmechanism employing a separable latch unit and latch 'actuating unit. Ifurther wish it understood that the specific form of the retractor linkis also capable of installation in various forms of latch mechanism ofthis character, and that the only change required is a slight alterationin the shape of the head 24.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. In a latch bolt mechanism of the character described a latch, anauxiliary bolt, a retractor, a sliding member connecting the retractorand the latch, means whereby depression of the auxiliary bolt will dogthe latch, and means whereby movement of the retractor and the slidingmember will rst release the dogging means and secondly retract the latchbolt.

2. In a latch bolt mechanism of the character described, a latch, anauxiliary bolt and a retractor, a retractor link connecting theretractor and the latch, a sliding connection between the two, a dog,means whereby depression of the auxiliary bolt Will move the dog intoengagement with the latch and secure it against inward movement', andmeans whereby movement of the retractor and the retractor link willfirst release the dog and secondly retract the latch bolt.

3. In a latch bolt mechanism of the character described a latch, a latchbar having a shoulder formed thereon, an auxiliary bolt, a retractor, adog, means whereby depression of the auxiliary bolt'will move the doginto engagement with the shoulder on the latch bar and secure the latchagainst inward movement, a sliding link forming a connection between theretractor and the latch bar, and a head member on the link engageablewith the dog to release it with relation to the latch bar, said linkalso adapted to retract the latch bar and latch bolt.

4. In a latch bolt mechanism of the character described, a latch, anauxiliary bolt, a latch bar secured to the latch, said latch bar havinga shoulder formed thereon, a retractor, a dog, a head member on theauxiliary bolt normall ing it out ofy engagement with the shoulder onthe latch bar, said shoulder havingv an in# clined surface which, whenthe auxiliary bolt is depressed, permits engagement of the dog with theshoulder on the latch bar, thereby securing the latch bar and the latchagainst inward movement, a head member actuated by the retractor andoperable during retracting movement of the retractor to engage the dogand release it with relation to the shoulder on the latch bar, and othermeans forming a connection between the retractor and the latch barwhereby the latch bar and the latch bolt are retracted during inwardmovement of the retractor after the dog has been released.

5. In a door latch bolt of the character described a latch bolt, anauxiliary bolt, a retractor, a sliding link forming a connection betweenthe retractor and the latch bolt, a (logging member and means actuatedby the auxiliary bolt for moving the clogging memlge into or out ofengagement with the latch 6. In a door latch bolt of the characterdescribed a latch bolt, an auxiliary bolt, a retractor, a sliding linkforming a connection between the retractor and the latch bolt, a doggingmember, means actuated by the auxiliary bolt for moving the dog 'ngmember into or out of engagement with tie latch bolt, and means actuatedby sliding movement of the link with relation to the latch bolt formoving the (logging member into or out of engagement with the latchbolt. l

WALTER R. SCHLAGE.

engaging the dog and retainl

